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tv   Real Money With Ali Velshi  Al Jazeera  July 12, 2014 2:00am-3:01am EDT

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you can find us on facebook and twitter. we'll see you next time. >> the violence this israeli-palestinian conflict is growing and the economic cost on both sides is adding up as well. we'll have the latest. there's a new ante dote to u.s. government red tape. we'll show you how tech start-ups are given bureaucracy a shot in the arm. if you are looking for a job the trucking industry wants you to take the wheel. i'm david shuster in for ali velshi. and this is "real money".
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>> this is "real money," and you are the most important part of the show. tweet us @ali velshi and mrs. facebook at ali velshi. the offensive against palestinian militants in gaza has come to the fourth day and the overall death toll is over 100 palestinians. two-thirds have been civilians. rocket attacks on israel from gaza has caused some israeli injuries and property damages but no fatalities. they turned on a siren in response to a possible incoming rocket but operations were back to norm ten minutes later. by contrast in the gaza strip goods and services have been paralyzed by the airstrikes. this comes at an economic toll. to understand better whyer let's take a look at the map.
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gaza and the west bank. two enclaves that israel claimed in the 1967 war. squeezing gaza commerce the unemployment rate for the palestinians in gaza stands at over 40%. unemployment for the 2.8 million palestinians living in the west bank stands at 18.2%, half of gaza's because more aid and private investment gets through israeli restrictions into the west bank than into gaza. but the west bank's agriculture and manufacturering are still hampered by a series of israeli military roads and settlements that restrict the movement of palestinian goods. the income per capita was $2,810. israel by comparison is an economic powerhouse. it is considered an high income
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economy and by 2013 the gross national? was $34,120. 12 times the palestinian figure. unemployment stands at 5.9%. it has a to flourishing tech sector that rivals silicon valley. and despite the fighting israel's economy is expected to grow. for the latest we turn to al jazeera's nick schifrin. even in normal situations it's difficult for goods and services and to get through the gaza west bank. what has happened in the last ten days? >> reporter: as you said, everything has been completely shut off. a lot of here call their reality inside of gaza like living in a
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prebecause of the nay valley blockade in the medicine tore rainan see. thithis is not only gaza, but egypt has been blocked and in the west bank you saw a couple of weeks of intensive action that the largest israeli action in the west bank in about a decade following the abduction and murder of three teenage israeli settlers. that was a pinpointed operation of people that israel wanted to throw into jail and looked for the teenagers. if you look at the head life, and certainly it does in , life goes on. >> in certain communities the
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sirens go off and they have to run to the sheryls, but israeli commerce is not stopping. >> reporter: yes, there are two points that are important. one, the nature of the rocket attacks. only 2% to 3% of all of those rockets that we're talking about reach populated areas. loose of them are falling into fields. yes, there is a lot of fear and tension in the israeli communities. but the risk to israeli, the people, and commerce, business , that's why the engine keeps churning, and israel really is a powerhouse. it really does have a very strong economy that can with stand these kinds of robert attacks so far as the rockets aren't hitting things like tel aviv downtown or some of the site of its military.
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>> what has been the move of the gaza and the west bank, israel and what do you see happening over the next couple of days? >> reporter: it's probably not smart for me to guess what's happening but all the indication from hamas in saying no one wants to stop and the strikes will continue. as for the people here in this little community that is one of the most densely populated places on the planet. there is extreme fear. right now on the street there is absolutely nobody. nobody thinks it's safe to walk on the roads. even today empty, empty, empt streets. then you have people from neighboring communities who show up to pay their requests. then you have an aftermath of a
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strike, drone or f-16. we weren't share today. the images are grizzly. you get over that notion of extreme fear and extreme anger, the shock. the things that were raining down, that's what they have tonight. >> michael: than tonight. >> thank you, we appreciate it. there is a new movement to change bureaucracy and innovation. that's coming up. plus the old school industry that can't find enough workers fast enough. that story and more as "real money" continues. >> aljazeera america presents >> the killing of journalist is a question directed to society >> they are impartial... >> if you wanted to be a good journalist in iraq, you have to risk your life...
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ups and the bureaucracy of government. but in an effort to modernize outdated institutions dozens of cities say agencies have started championing entrepreneur in residence programs. we checked out one of these model programs near the heart of innovation itself, silicon valley. lisa marie martinez has made it through life without sight just fine holding down a full-time job and raising a family in the san francisco bay area with only the guidance of her cane. but when she needs t to catch a flight, she finds her hard-fought independence has-lost. >> you can navigate through an airport. as a blind person i can't do that. >> reporter: but a collaboration between a san francisco international airport and start
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up called indoors sponsored by the entrepreneurship in residence program hopes to change that we want to realize a project where everybody going through san francisco airport can use our technology. >> reporter: hannes installed 800 small disks that can be tracked by the users smart phone, visually impaired travelers can access audio instructions directing them where they want to go. indoors is one of 200 companies who applied for the entrepreneurship in residence program, they then selected start ups to partner with. they developed cutting edge solutions to existing problems. from air quality to improved
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services for blind travelers at sfo. >> it's been a great experience. to sit down across the table and talk with guys indoors. they came in with assumptions. we had assumptions. we talked about what we can do and can't do. >> reporter: each partnership was given 16 weeks toe complete their projects and an unheard of timeline for slow. moving bureaucracy of government. >> by the end of 16 weeks our goal is to have that showcased through demo day. >> reporter: the chief invasion officer and creator of a city program that brings a novel twist on the private-public partnership. >> how do you work with government? who should you workin work with to solve problems. and from our side how do we tap in to this rich set of companies and individuals that can help solve problems. >> reporter: nath said all the start ups participating in the program volunteer their time pro
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bono, and the city gave access to valuable technology for free. steve said the work he did was worth $100,000 alone. but for indoors and other start ups the commercial lure of big government contracts was too good to pass up. >> we have ideas like installing our solution at the city hall, basically at every government building, there are many places in san francisco and the bay area which could profit from our solution. >> it's important to remember that entrepreneurship is an ecosystem, not a precipice . >> reporter: steve blank now teaches entrepreneurship at stanford university and uc berkeley. while he applauds the efforts, blank said instead of bringing in drive-by entrepreneurs, government agencies would be better off teaching their own employees to be innovative. >> entrepreneurship culture takes much longer than one cycle to build.
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if there is no internal entrepreneurship dna, once the entrepreneurs leave you're left with no change in that organize. >> reporter: it may be an uphill battle but said the city's entrepreneurship in residence program is a first step. >> it's not going to happen overnight. it is a process. but by opening ourselves up, sharing data, by opening up our processes, by saying, hey, we need help in solving this, we can make this a much more collaborative effort. >> reporter: nath said the world bank and the president's office in mexico are creating similar programs. the computer technology company dell is taking a different approach. it's been working with state legislators to establish entrepreneur programs across the country. so far bills have passed in two states, texas and virginia with
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action in several others. we asked about the advantages of embedding entrepreneurs in government. >> entrepreneurship is an incredibly important part to dell. we say we need your assistance not just in us doing our business but helping us communicate with government. after listening to the entrepreneurs was to launch a campaign for entrepreneurs in residence in agencies across the country. it allows an entrepreneurial seat at the table when decisions are being made at a particular agency. but more importantly it also allows that entrepreneur to serve as an advocate for other entrepreneurs trying to break through the red tape of state bureaucracies to take advantage of the many programs that may
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exist but they just don't have time or the resources to access. >> what about the argument that to be fair maybe the state agencies ought to be adding consumer positions as well, and is this an entrepreneur to cut through the red tape that is there in the first place. >> reporter: that is actually anent point. the revenue for the resident , it's one thing for a government agency to set aside x number of dollars to try and encourage growth in the entrepreneurial sector in their state. it's an entirely different thing for a start-up company to figure out how to access that money. the role of the entrepreneur would be to help the start-up community access those services. it wouldn't be to cut red tape
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to regula regulations. only to market and capital. >> how does it benefit the government, though? >> another excellent question. the government is a large bureaucracy that sometimes has a hard time shifting direction or taking advantage of new innovations. the entrepreneurial in residence could help aid the agencies in which they sit to diversify their viewpoints and diversify the way in which they approach business. bringing that entrepreneurial energy and spirit into aen agency and help them think outside of the box. >> it all sounds great, but what is in it for dell? why make the investment as opposed to letting somebody else do this. >> that is the question we get when we go to state legislature. that is the question when we took this legislation to congress. two answers to that. first, entrepreneurship is a
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part of dell's dna. michael started this company in his dorm room at the university of texas. so entrepreneurship is part of who we are. that's particularly true now that michael has taken the company private. culture. it is built into our expectations of how each and every one of us do our day-to-day job. that's number one. second, we have over 10 million entrepreneurs as customers. as i said at the beginning we went out and we're trying to listen to those customers and what they need. bottom line we have the entrepreneurs back and we're willing to spend capital to demonstrate it. >> any fear of the bureaucracy getting in the way of this grand vision? >> oh, yes, that is always a concern. but by bringing an entrepreneur who has had success in the
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private cit industry inside, that will help prevent this program from being dragged down from the bureaucracy its trying to prevent. >> chris, thank you for coming on the program. >> thank you very much for having me. >> two of the biggest names in the tobacco industry are talking about a merger. reynolds and lorillard are considering merging. it would require the company to sell some brands or assets to pass anti- trust scrutiny. >> reporter: the u.s. trucking industry needs more people behind the wheel, and if the industry cannot find drivers soon there will be a cost to all of us.
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>> weekday mornings on al jazeera america >> we do have breaking news this morning... >> start your day with in depth coverage from around the world. first hand reporting from across the country and real news keeping you up to date. the big stories of the day, from around the world... >> these people need help, this is were the worst of the attack took place...
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>> and throughout the morning, get a global perspective on the news... >> the life of doha... >> this is the international news hour... >> an informed look on the night's events, a smarter start to your day. mornings on al jazeera america >> president obama has been enlisting some of the nation's biggest company. apple, at&t and coca-cola promise to pay its suppliers within 15 days. the speedy pay off i will allow them to invest in higher workers. the program used for government contractors launched three years ago has effected 137,000 small businesses and sped up the payment of more than $1 billion. what if we told you that some of those big companies could learn a thing or two from america's mall business owners? well, that's the conclusion of three business professor s who visited businesses in an rv and
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rental car. the new book penned by the three men "back road lessons entrepreneurs, executives and small business ownest." mike, what are some of the lessons that you picked up on the road from some of these small businesses. >> like you said, the small businesses, they really need help in getting going further, and our mba concepts were not reaching them because we didn't have case studies about small businesses. we went out on the road to learn from those small businesses, and we got a variety of different insights from strategies they were using to run their businesses. >> scott, what were some of the insights that surprised you the most? >> a really good one came from gps source in pueblo, colorado. this is a small company beating
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some of the big guys in the gps systems in cargo planes. what they're good at is facilitating internal communication. they get the sales people and engineers to talk to each other. one of the great lines we heard at gps source was that there was only one water cooler at this company. sales and engineering can't help but to run into each other and share how to help their customers better. >> there are so many small businesses out there where people don't have mba experience. what is the crucial thing that enables them to be successful. >> they have this experience, and they have local knowledge and connection with their communities. this can help businesses run better and meet their customers needs better. we talked to mike bodart who runs hushes sporting goods in indiana. and his
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stocking school colors, brown and orange, and you didn't have those colors in, the big guys won't have the information to do that on a local level. >> and columbus is not far from indiana university, and you have to stock the crimson colors at the right time as well. >> absolutely. >> what are some of the other businesses that stood out, scott? >> another interesting one was a company called prodo outside of atlanta. they make the misting systems that go in the supermarkets produce aisle. the thunder, lightening and spray on the vegetables, they've been able to take over a large market share by completely redesigning how they work. instead of rubber tubes that they have to put together, they have lego pieces that snap together.
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>> again, you guys teach at prominent business schools, but for folks who can't go get their mba, what are some of the lessons that you believe are important for them that they can pick up from your book? >> i think in our book we say the right answer to every strategic question is "it depends." that sounds very poor advice, but it really is important to understand the fundamentals of your market, the fundamentals of your customer, and adapt to those specific situations. don't be sold on the five things you can do to make your business successful. it really requires deep understanding of your market. >> is there agility that you need to have in particular for small businesses starting up. >> agility, passion, creativ creativetivety, we saw so much of that when we were out on the road. the small business people we talked to without fail were creative and passionate. when it got time for us to leave they almost didn't want to stop
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talking about their business because there were so thrilled to have someone there listening to their successful stories. >> we talk about wage stagnation in america. did you pick up anecdotes on that on the road and what wages in smaller towns may look like over the next several years? >> you'll need to see expansion of small business for wages to increase. a lot of business owners had opportunities of different people to hire. once that happens then you'll see more of a wage increase. >> so trig. mike, and scott thank you so much. the book is "roadside mba" i assume you guys got along most of the time on this trip? >> um, yeah-- >> you don't have to answer. if you're looking for a job right now, can you drive a big truck?
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coming up, the drive to get more americans to take the wheel. plus, caught in a middle class pressure cooker, economic stress almost got the best of one of the middle chance families we were following as part of our yearlong coverage. >> on tech know, imagine getting the chance to view the world. >> the brain is re-learning how it sees again >> after decades in the dark, >> i couldn't get around on my own >> a miraculous bionic eye... >> i'm seeing flashes >> great >> tech know, every saturday go where science meets humanity. >> this is some of the best driving i've every done, even though i can't see. >> tech know. >> we're here in the vortex. only on al jazeera america.
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>> america's improving job market has not yet caused widespread labor shortages, but some industries are having trouble attracting enough workers, and trucking is one of them. driver shortages is not a new problem, there are factors that are making i it difficult now. >> reporter: the more trucks, the better the economy is doing. it's usually a sign there is a greater demand for goods. truck companies say yes, their volume is picking up. their problem is they don't have enough drivers. yrc worldwide based in kansas said for the first time in its
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80-plus year history it has hired recruiters with 600 jobs left unfilled. shortages are industrywide especially among long-distance drivers. the american trucking association aid 30,000 positions are unfilled and it projects that number could mushroom to 239,000. shortages of drivers are not new. but analysts say the a number of factors are magnifying the shortage including an improving economy. >> we tend to lose drivers to the construction industry because that's a job that you can do leave in the morning, come home in the afternoon, and not be gone for days at a time. >> reporter: this year's harsh winter that idled trucks is blamed for prompting workers to look for other jobs. newly imposed federal regulation for time behind the wheel is seen as a factor of
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driving people away as it effects the number of wages they can earn. analysts say as companies face higher costs by boosting wages and benefits consumers may pay a price. >> the ripple effect for the consumer, particularly in the short run is going to be probably increased prices. >> reporter: and the industry that is sometimes seen as a barometer of the economy has the potential to weigh on it. mary snow, al jazeera. >> of course, not everyone knows how to drive a big rig, but there are ways to learn. a state school in ohio started offering a five-week truck driving course last year and one local trucking company said it will hire every driver that graduates from the program. but the school is facing challenges finding students to take the course. joining us now from columbus, ohio, mike witzen. tell us why you started this
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program and what have the results been so far. >> hi, dave, and thanks for the opportunity to be here with you this evening. local politicians started this, basically, county commissioners. we have our main campus in zanesville, ohio. and we have a campus at interstate 70 east and west and north and south. the county commissioner came to zane state college and said we're in dire need of truck driver training. there is a lot of demand that is going unfilled, and we have a population here that we would like to see have the opportunity to take advantage of that and fill some of these jobs that are in high demand. >> i understand, though, that you're not getting as many students as you thought. how come? >> i wish i knew the answer to that. we've tried many ways of reaching out. we think we're still very much in the launching phase, and
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finding what works best in terms of outreach. we're working through the state agencies, the local chambers, veterans, this is a wonderful opportunity for veterans that perhaps they've driven large equipment while in the service, and so we're working very hard to grow this very much in demand training opportunity. >> for the students who have enrolled in this program, in addition to veterans, are there other demographics about the students? is there a particular type of american in the southwest ohio area that is attracted to this? >> i think so. we're a two-year college. we're a technical college for the most part, but we are going into other areas as well. and there are people out there that just aren't meant to sit in a classroom. they're hands-on people. perhaps farmers and as i indicated, veterans that want to do something with their hands, a
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sense of adventure, and make a good living for their family. this is a wonderful opportunity for people that don't want to sit in a classroom, don't want to do math and english. they want something short in duration that can greatly elevate their earning potential, and they would enjoy. and there is certainly a segment of the population that would fit this very well. >> how much does the five-week program cost, and is there any way for somebody to get, let's say, financial aid to pay for it? >> it's 4,000 hundred dollars. a lot of private schools are around $5,000. and obviously to some people this is a lot of money. some of the state agencies do have money if you meet the financial criteria to fund this. also, banks will loan money to students to successfully complete the program. and what we need to do more of is to work with employers who
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need these people to see if we can work out some pay back to them if they agree to go to work for these employers. >> finally any skepticism among your colleagues at zane state taking this on? >> no, we have a lot of warehouses that make use of our interstates in both directions. there are some who do team driving so they don't have to stop. the demand is there, we want to help the community and this is one way we can do it. >> mike whetson dean of zane state college. thank you for being here. >> thanks for having me. >> up next did president bush's tax cuts cost americans nearly 7 trillion-dollar? there is some startling new evidence.
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plus we've all experienced financial stress at one time or another, and one of our middle class families had quite a squar scare recently. we'll check in with the savinos when we come right back. >> start with one issue education... gun control... the gap between rich and poor... job creation... climate change... tax policy... the economy... iran... healthcare... ad guests on all sides of the debate. >> this is a right we should all have... >> it's just the way it is... >> there's something seriously wrong... >> there's been acrimony... >> the conservative ideal... >> it's an urgent need... and a host willing to ask the tough questions >> how do you explain it to yourself? and you'll get... the inside story ray suarez hosts inside story weekdays at 5 eastern only on al jazeera america >> now inroducing, the new al jazeea america mobile news app. get our exclusive in depth, reporting when you want it. a global perspective wherever you are. the major headlines in context.
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>> this, is what we do. >> al jazeera america. >> the american economy has regained the 8.7 million jobs
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lost during the recession and unemployment is at its lowest level since 2008. but david cay johnston said that the recovery could be stronger. in a column written for al jazeera america, he argues that president george w. bush's tax cuts cost americans trillions of dollars of personal income. david took the average income reported and compared that t to 2001 through 2012. according to calculations, the loss was $48,010 and the cumulative shortfall comes to $6.6 trillion. david cay johnston joins us from rochester, new york. what about the criticism from folks who say perhaps it had something to do with the 9/11 or the wars that caused the economy to have the problems that it did? >> well, i took that under consideration when i planned this story in october of 2000. i called the bush campaign.
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i was at "the new york times" then, and i asked if there were any ifs, ands, and buts that these tax plans would make us any worse off? i was given the direct phone number of the "new york times" if they wanted to explain about it. but they mr. insist tent that there were no ifs, ands and buts. they had the opportunity to say back then of course we want to condition this on things that we don't have control over or choices that we may make that are subsequent to the election, and they passed on that opportunity. and the president kept giving speeches after the election in which he said exactly the same thing. these tax cuts will make us better off. all i'm doing is holding president george w. bush to his own standard as i have presidents in both parties for many years. >> bill clinton in 1997 cut the
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capital gains tax and the economy saw a boost then. what was the difference in the timing of the two presidencies? >> the economy got better for a while after the second bush tax cut, the capital gains cut. but we saw the economy get better after the 1993 tax rates that clinton got through. and it started to get better at a faster clip after the bush tax cuts were allowed to expire in 2013, and in california where voters chose to raise taxes on the highest income americans by a third job growth has more than 50% faster than the rest of the country. another issue i wrote about in earlier al jazeera column. >> there is the traditional argument that a lot of people make against the tax cuts which says the idea is to stimulate the economy, you know it's going to be spent on roads and whatever it is, as opposed to
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people who get a tax break, they take it out of circulation on a mattress or spent overseas, but there is a type of tax relief that has traditionally doesn't better than any other in stimulating the economy? >> i think the evidence on this is very mixed. if you look at the empirical evidence, tax cuts and what happens in the economy, the one thing i can absolutely tell you that when we cut taxes on business even though this is contrary to what everybody seems to think, it leads to less investment. the reason that is clear. if you're running a company, and you have less than higher profit, if you need to buy new trucks to make deliveries, the government picks up an enormous portion that have cost. the lower the tax rate, the smaller the portion. lower tax rates discourage reinvestment. but in this case what is important the numbers did not
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work out even close based on the promise, the absolute unqualified and stated promise of mr. bush. >> have you heard anything from the economic advisers close to former president bush now about those promises made, and what they say these days? >> no. i mean, i mostly work from the data. i have pointed out in my column that more than half of the $6.6 trillion of lost income was under the four years of president obama, who of course inherited a very bad economy, but also agreed to extend the bush tax cuts. which were intended to be temporary. they were sold and promised to us as temporary. >> david cay johnston , pulitzer prize winner, and columnist, thank you for coming on today's show. we appreciate it. >> great to be here. >> as part of our continuing series of america's middle
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class, following the dream. we follow the lives of three different families who share one common element. they're all struggling paycheck to pay check. the stress of making ends meet took a toll by giving his wife and his two kids a scare. >> he had an anxiety attack. he was very stressed out about money. >> i had the mortgage worried about, and are the bills paid on time. everything lumped together. i got to work--i work midnight shift, and i'm tired as it is, and then stress on my mind. so i got into my car. as soon as i got into my car i felt very dizzy like i was going to collapse. i knew something wasn't right. it was not a regular dizziness. i felt off balance, like a heat attack.
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everything was spinning and i tried to drive home. i got maybe, i don't know, three or four miles and i thought, hey, i have to pull over. i called diane quick. >> he said, i don't feel good. he goes, you got to help me. when he said that i lost it. this is bad. for him to say come help me, please. i hung up to call 911. now i'm calling him back, and he's not answering the phone. i'm freaking out thinking he's dead. as i'm thinking that, i thought, oh my god, how am i going to tell the kids? oh, my god, my name is not on the mortgage. >> i pulled into a dunkin' donuts, i tried to get out of the car but i thought i was going to have a heart attack. i went to the door of the dunkin' donuts, went to the bathroom and threw water on my face. i sat down and waited until the police came. >> i go to the parking lot and i see the cops. it's something out of a movies.
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>> they'rthey are knocking on the door, mr. sabino, are you okay in there? >> he came out white as a sheet. >> i got out and went to the ambulance and i went to the hospital. they gave me fluids. i took a couple of days off from work and i felt better. >> he is back at work and has not had any more scares lately. but unless he changes his coping strategies, he could be facing more physical ailments. anxiety is a common reaction to financial strain, and he isn't surprised that phil sabino had a panic attack. >> a panic attack is where all of a sudden out of the blue you can't breathe. you feel like you're about to die. you have heart pal mytation palpitations. you start sweating. you start feeling dizzy. you feel there is no place you
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can go. there is no place to run to, and everything is going to end right then and there. it's a scary horrific feeling. >> as scary as the emotions associated with financial strain? >> well, in this case we know that's what is happening with phil. but the american psychological association did a studiy a year ago and found 80% of americans are dealing with the strain of finances, and so we can assume that there is a good many of them who are having a lot of anxiety issues or maybe even anxiety attacks, which are much less severe than of course the panic attacks. >> what are the different levels of anxiety that people will feel regarding their finances? >> well, what we tend to see is they may have a general anxiety around the finances where they may stay up at night, where they may worry how they're going to make the payments, where they can't deal with being in debt. then you have those people who take it up another notch. i think that's what happened with phil.
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he had a really severe anxiety into a panic attack where all of a sudden it's not just about the worry. now it's the worry of finances plus your health plus you're having all of these physical symptoms and psychological symptoms that are going along with what you're experiencing. >> i know a lot of psychologists and therapists will say when people ruminate about things that haven't happened that will effect blood pressure and ailments. wait until you're facing a problem until you start to worry about it? >> yes, and try to become more empowered about it. you know, we tend to create mountains out of mole hills. we have seen the sabinos do the same thing. yes, their problem is very real. they have real debt. but they have a home to live in. they have wonderful children. they have their health right now. and so w you have to put it all in perspective. nor than anything else, instead of seeing yourself as a victim,
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you don't know what you're going to do. you don't know how you're going to pay the bills, you don't know how you're going to make it to the next day, instead learn how to cope with what many of us deal with, financial issues. >> what are some of the strategies, and what are some of the strategies that you do to cope. >> well, i speak with my partner and figure out a way from the financial mess. it's something that most of us go through. for the sabinos. mrs. sabino tends to get very, very anxious. that ramps up her husband. what they need to do, if nothing else, they need to communicate with one another, but always keep it positive. it's not just the gloom and doom, but how do we figure out this rub riks cube. he tends to keep secrets from
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her. no, it's not about the blame james. it's not about yesterday. it's about today. what are we going to do today. let's share the information. let's brain storm. two heads are better than one when it comes to this, and speak to a financial adviser. there are services available in the communities that are free. but people get so freaked out that they don't look at what the options are. >> i wish i had you years ago helping me with some of my financial problems. but a pleasure to have you on the program. >> better late than never. >> indeed. thank you. >> we'll check in with the williams family. they're facing a major life change since their wedding. their home is worth less than their mortgage. it's financially underwater and the couple plans to move later this month. up next, more traffic jams, but one company is using big data to get people moving again. we'll show you what they're doing when we come back.
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>> al jazeera america presents >> just because you're pregnant, don't mean you life's ended. 15 stories, 1 incredible journey >> edge of eighteen coming september only on al jazeera america >> almost anybody who lives in the city knows the pain of rush
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hour commuting. buss that crawl between stops, and by 2030 5 billion people wil , and it will get more crowded. using swipe data to show troubled spots and choke points. here to explain how it works, co-founder of urban engines, and professor of electrical engineering at stanford university. professor, first explain how this system will work. >> it uses swipe card data to reconstruct the digital replica of the movement of buses trains in the large transportation network in a city. what's it's been created by the
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replica we can understand where th th the congestion points are, and you can use vehicles on other routes that are less used to move these people. >> let's take the examiner of example of subway. other people call it rapid transit, how detailed will it be for the riders to understand what is coming? >> they'll be able to understand how long the queues on the platform are. they can understand how many people are wait to go board trains. for the operator it also tells them how many people missed trains because the vehicles are running full. also understand how many people are in trains. so there is this sense of crowdedness inside the train, and you can understand how many people are being squeezed into trains.
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and this helps both the operatives and commuters alike to avoid hot spots, bottle necks, and it allows levers to annex capacity. >> because they're getting information realtime. they say, aha we need to send a train to this location. is there any other benefits to the smart card data beyond just sort of information about traffic jams and crowded subwa subways? >> well, yes, once you understand that the supply is limit: you can't keep adding more and more capacity to the transport networks, something must be done to answer the demands, there the smart card we've been using the smart card to construct frequent flier program equivalent for transit users. what that means is if you take a
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trip, say for 10 kilometers or 10 miles, you earn ten points just like an air miles program. if the trip happens to be outside of rush hour, that means just 30 minutes away from rush hour, not a few hours away, then you earn 30 or more points. three or more points per mile or kilometer, okay? this basically tells commuters please be loyal to the public transit system, however, use the off-peak times for travel. then they can use these points for dollars in luxury-like mechanism instead of playing a game of chance. >> it sounds like such a great incentive to change behaviors. i understand you've been doing this for two years in singapore and there is a project in washington, d.c. how has it gone in singapore? and what do you have planned for the nation's capitol?
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>> the singapore program is a nudge program, we have over 200,000 commuters signed on. that's 16% to 17% of the total train riders. we have seen a 10% to 15% travel shift, and groups of commuters shift differently than long-distanced commuterrers. people who have been traveling more in the peak hour tend to shift more because there is more to shift. that's what we're doing in singapore. in dc we're in early testing with data platform. we're helping the washington, d.c. metro folks get insights into how the system is operated. where the bottlenecks are, etc. >> that's so interesting, the co-founder and chief scientist and professor at stanford university. thank you for coming on the program.
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we appreciate it. >> thank you very much. >> you're welcome. coming up on "real money" we all need oil but nobody wants the stuff shipped through their neighborhood. we'll explore why america is still waiting for new safety regulations. plus the internet has broken down many barriers but it has not increased the number of minorities in the tech industry. w that's 7:00 p.m. eastern and 4:00 p.m. pacific. finally you probably heard by now that lebron james is returning home to cleveland. when james left the city for miami four years ago cleveland fans felt so we strayed they literally burned uniforms with his name and numbers on it. today the most popular-selling t-shirts say "forgiven" and "welcome back." in miami he won two championships.
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next year as he tries to bring a first-ever trophy to cleveland, he'll make $22 million. he already made close to $100 million, and he has added to very advise investments funded in part by warren if you hav buffet, who james befriended years ago. james has been smart about his money and tireless in his career. as he wrote today in northeast ohio nothing is given. everything is earned. you work for what you have. congratulations to lebron james and the city of cleveland. folks may have to wait a bit for that nba championship, but city pride starts right now. that's our show for today. i'm david shuster for ali velshi and every here at "real money," thanks for watching and have a great weekend.
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>> within 120 dead and hundreds injured in gaza, the israeli military operation enters its fifth day with no end in sight. hello, aime jane dutton in -- i'm jane dutton in doha. shifting battle lines in iraq - kurds finding themselves under pressure from two sides as they take new territory. pro-russian separatists hit back in eastern ukraine, the president vows to destroy the fo t